Tag: PFW

PFW Graduate Students Lead Wildlife Conservation Efforts in Indiana

By Andrew Danielson / Photos by Lauren Lee and Justin Moore

A species of ground squirrels. A unique camera trap with motion-activated cameras. And the states of California and Rhode Island.

As it turns out, all those items have a lot in common, particularly when it comes to the wildlife biology laboratory of Dr. Scott Bergeson, associate professor of animal biology at Purdue University Fort Wayne in the department of biological sciences.

For over a year, two of Bergeson’s graduate students, Justin Moore, originally from Rhode Island, and Lauren Lee, who hails from California, have been working on separate but complementary research projects focusing on wildlife conservation and management.

Lee, who received her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, is working on a project to survey and identify the variety of small mammal species that exist throughout Indiana.

“The goal is to survey the entire state for small mammals,” Lee said.  

Lee’s mentor, Bergeson, explained that the last time a survey of small mammals in Indiana was completed was around 2007. That means that wildlife conservation officials such as those at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources have no fresh statistics on the health and population figures for small mammals.

Mammals are good indicators of the health of a particular ecosystem. If there is a diverse population of mammals in the area, that ecosystem is probably healthy.

“All of these small mammals and all of the other things help maintain the health of these natural spaces,” Bergeson said. “Even our agriculture would suffer if we didn’t have the natural spaces that help filter the pollutants that would otherwise get into our crops. Everything is connected.”  

Smile – You’re on Camera

Lauren Lee and one of her technicians, CJ Klopfenstein, inspect one of the cameras used in the project
Graduate student Lauren Lee

Lee’s project, which is funded by a $150k grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, is ambitious to say the least. If she were to use traditional trapping methods to conduct her survey, as was done in the 1960s, her project would take many years to complete.

But Lee and Bergeson have a solution: camera technology and upside-down buckets.

Lee explained that she installs “camera traps” on publicly-owned property, at least 100 meters away from any trail or road.

Each camera trap consists of a temporary “wall” made of a plastic material that leads to overturned buckets. An upside-down bucket with entrance holes cut into the bottom houses the actual camera.

The traps don’t use any bait, relying instead on animals’ natural curiosity or scent. When an animal approaches the trap, the “wall” barrier naturally guides them to the hole in the bucket. Once the animal walks into the bucket, their photo is snapped.

The cameras are infrared-equipped and motion activated, so there’s no bright flashes when the camera snaps photos. The lenses used on the camera are designed to provide close-up, magnified views of the animals, providing easier identification of the small furry visitors.

Long-tailed weasel
Southern flying squirrel
Juvenile Virginia Opossum

Lee explained that she currently has 102 camera trap sites, spread across the entire state. To collect the photos taken from her cameras, she has to drive to each site, swap out SD cards in the cameras, and perform maintenance on the site as needed.

From those sites, Lee has collected 1.5 million photos, with hundreds of thousands of photo sequences.

To help collect and process all of that information, Lee is being assisted by two undergraduate technicians and an artificial intelligence software. The AI automatically sorts through the sequences of photos and provides Lee with some basic species identification. She then checks what the artificial intelligence has done, making sure that the identifications are accurate.

“So, the whole idea is that we have this huge database of photos from everywhere and then for the next 100 years we can start mining that data to figure out other sorts of things,” Bergeson said.

A Squirrel’s View on Indiana

Yet another of Bergeson’s graduate students, Justin Moore, is also undertaking an ambitious wildlife conservation project with the assistance of two undergraduate technicians.

Moore, who received his undergraduate degree in wildlife conservation from the University of Rhode Island, is working to help stabilize a population of ground squirrels here in Indiana, called the Franklin’s ground squirrel.

Moore explained that ground squirrels are similar to tree squirrels, but they’re actually separate species with different diets, preferred habitat, and behavior.

According to Moore, Franklin’s used to have a fairly wide range in Indiana. However, due to the loss of prairies across the state, the ground squirrel’s preferred habitat, that population has shrunk to just one natural population in the region.

Franklin’s ground squirrel leaves its burrow in a hay bale

“They are state endangered in Indiana, and they’re declining across most of the Midwest,” Moore said.

Moore’e project, which is also fully funded by a roughly $200k grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, is to help stabilize the Franklin’s population by re-locating healthy specimens from other states to Indiana. His project is a pilot study, so the techniques he is using will help in future re-location projects of either Franklin’s or other small animals that are endangered.

How to Move a Squirrel: Carefully!

Moore explained that, together with his mentor Bergeson, they identified a strong, healthy population of Franklin’s in South Dakota. Moore and Bergeson quickly formed an agreement between wildlife conservation officials in South Dakota and Indiana, enabling them to bring Franklin’s from South Dakota back here to Indiana.

But moving squirrels is no easy task.

“There’s a lot that goes into the trapping to make sure that the squirrels and we [the researchers] are safe,” Moore said.

Handling of a baby Franklin’s ground squirrel
Justin Moore holds a Franklin’s ground squirrel

The capture sites for the squirrels in South Dakota are designed to minimize stress and discomfort to the animals, including routine checks on the traps and special coverings to provide shade to captured animals in the traps.

Researchers receive rabies vaccines before interacting with the animals, and all captured animals are initially handled through special handling cones that keep the squirrels calm and unable to bite the researchers.

Once the animals have been captured, they undergo a thorough process of medical checkups, including treatments for any diseases spread by ticks or lice. A veterinarian check-up and a full 21-day quarantine period are also rigorously followed to ensure that diseased animals are not brought into Indiana.

Once Moore brings the squirrels to Indiana, he releases them into what are called “soft release” enclosures, allowing the newly translocated squirrels to get used to their new habitat before being fully released into their Indiana home.

Moore is assisted by technician CJ Klopfenstein as they collar a Franklin’s ground squirrel

To keep tabs on the squirrel population and its well-being, Moore uses small radio transmitters attached to the Franklin’s that allow him to track their movements using a small receiver and antenna.

The new Franklin’s ground squirrels being brought to Indiana are being released in Newton County on property owned by The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit group that advocates for wildlife conservation.

PFW Biology Students Having National Impact with Research

Both of these research projects are forging new ground in the world of wildlife conservation.

Dr. Bergeson said that Lee’s project has already resulted in a research protocol that is now being shared among various states engaged in wildlife research. That protocol, coupled together with her unique use of artificial intelligence, will provide other researchers with tools and techniques needed in today’s field of wildlife conservation.

Moore’s project is also making inroads into the field of wildlife conservation.

As he talked about his project, Moore said that the project will hopefully result in Franklin’s populations stabilizing. That means the population will, one day, grow strong enough to be removed from the state endangered classification.

And these projects are already paying dividends for their researchers, as Moore, Lee, and their technicians, all gain conservation experience from their projects.  

“I feel like any new experience with any kind of wildlife is really, really cool,” Lee said.

Moore agrees with that view.

“I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” he summarized.

It’s a win-win situation for Lee, Moore, and their two undergraduate research technicians who assist them with their projects. They all gain valuable research experience and the opportunities to do future projects or write and publish their findings in research journals.

For the undergraduate technicians, the field research training they are gaining will help them strengthen their potential future applications to graduate school.

But perhaps the greatest benefit these projects are providing is the effect they have on wildlife conservation.

Bergeson said that projects like Lee’s camera traps and Moore’s squirrel translocations are having valuable impacts on Indiana’s conservation efforts.

“Our lab has actual impacts on that, which is super cool,” Bergeson said.  

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We (College Students) Are Not Climate Villains — But Our Choices Still Matter

College students are often quick to point out—correctly—that they are not the primary drivers of climate change. Corporations, governments, and fossil fuel industries bear the greatest responsibility for rising emissions.

But that reality does not mean student behavior is irrelevant. On college campuses, everyday choices made by thousands of students add up, shaping both a university’s carbon footprint and the culture around climate action.

Universities contribute to climate change through several types of emissions, often grouped into three categories or scopes.

There are Scope 1 emissions, which come from on-site fuel use, such as heating systems or university vehicle fleets. Along with these are Scope 2 emissions, which include purchased electricity that powers classrooms, dorms, and labs.

The largest category for many campuses, however, is Scope 3 emissions, indirect sources like commuting, air travel, food purchasing, waste, construction materials, and the goods students consume.

It is in this third category where student behavior matters most. Scope 3 emissions are shaped by daily habits: how students get to campus, what they eat, and what they buy.

While students often have lower per-person emissions than older adults due to smaller living spaces and fewer long-distance trips, those advantages can disappear quickly through heavy car use, fast fashion purchases, takeout packaging, and dorm-related waste.

Just as importantly, the habits and norms students develop during college often carry into adulthood. Choices that feel minor now can shape long-term patterns of consumption, transportation, and environmental responsibility, increasing the likelihood of higher-impact behaviors later in life.

At Purdue University Fort Wayne, this issue is especially visible. PFW is widely considered a commuter-heavy campus, with university leaders estimating that roughly three–quarters of students commute instead of living on or near campus.

Transportation alone becomes a major climate factor under those conditions. Using EPA averages: A student commuting 10 miles one-way, 4 days/week, over two semesters produces = 1 metric ton of CO₂ per year. When multiplied across thousands of commuters, even modest individual changes begin to matter.

Consumption patterns compound the problem. Overconsumption among younger generations has become normalized, fueled by social media trends, influencer marketing, and constant product cycling.

Trend-driven purchases, whether they be clothing or collectibles like Funko Pops (an especially wasteful product), may feel harmless, but they carry real environmental costs.

Electronics tell a similar story. Many students upgrade phones, tablets, and gadgets frequently, often without properly recycling old devices. Surveys show that a majority of Gen Z and Millennial consumers do not fully understand what electronic waste is, and many throw devices directly into the trash. This creates one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world and embeds additional emissions into mining, manufacturing, and shipping replacement devices.

What makes this issue particularly frustrating is that students are not indifferent to climate change. Surveys consistently show that a majority of young people are deeply worried about the climate crisis, with many reporting anxiety that affects their daily lives.

Yet awareness does not always translate into action. Research has identified a persistent attitude–behavior gap: students may understand the environmental harm of fast fashion or excessive consumption, but continue to indulge in these habits because they are cheap, convenient, and socially reinforced.

This gap is not simply a failure of personal responsibility. It reflects structural pressures—limited transit options, affordability constraints, and digital ecosystems designed to encourage constant consumption.

As long as trend culture and algorithm-driven marketing dominate student spaces, climate concern alone will struggle to turn into consistent behavior change. However, institutional support—especially around transportation and food systems—can help shift habits in areas where students have the greatest opportunity to make lower-impact choices.

There are, of course, simple ways in which students can adjust their lives to reduce impact. Carpooling, combining errands, adjusting class schedules, or using transit where available can reduce emissions. Small energy habits, such as turning off lights, lowering the heat or air conditioning when away, and using energy-saving device settings, also add up. Choosing plant-forward meals occasionally, reducing food waste, and reusing textbooks or dorm goods can lower emissions without demanding major lifestyle overhauls.

Beyond individual choices, students hold real influence over institutional action. Universities often respond to student pressure, whether through climate action plans, renewable energy targets, or improved transit and recycling infrastructure.

On many campuses, including this one, students are already working, formally and informally, to push sustainability efforts forward, demonstrating that change is possible and that individual involvement contributes to a broader, ongoing movement rather than starting from scratch.

Student organizations, campus committees, and student government all offer avenues to push for transparency and accountability. Civic engagement, such as voting and participating in local community and governmental planning extend that influence beyond campus borders.

Students are not the villains of the climate story. But neither are they powerless bystanders. The reality lies somewhere in between. Our daily choices shape campus emissions, signal our climate stance values, and influence whether our climate concern becomes real action. At commuter-heavy schools like PFW, those choices matter even more. Climate progress does not begin and end with students—but it does pass through them.

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PFW Esports – A Team Sport for the Digital Age

By Andrew Danielson

For Jordan Cunningham, computer games aren’t just a means of relaxation. They are an intensive sport requiring concentration, teamwork, and careful organization.

“It’s so accessible for anyone,” Cunningham said. “You just need a computer.”

A graduate of the Indiana Institute of Technology with a degree in psychology, Cunningham is starting his second year as coach of the PFW Esports team.

But he brings a lot of experience to the table when it comes to gaming and coaching.

Prior to PFW, Cunningham has been both a competitive player of games such as “League of Legends,” as well as an Esports coach, serving as the coach for Indiana Tech’s Esports team.

There’s a lot that goes into running an Esports team, and that digital world is continuing to grow in popularity among universities across the globe, with Esports programs and arenas being installed at the Purdue West Lafayette campus, Purdue Northwest, and PFW.

Esports Originates at Home

Cunningham explained that Esports originated with enthusiastic League of Legends players when they held a tournament for the game in one of the player’s basements. From there, a formal, global tournament was held in 2011, and the world of Esports gaming was born.

Cunningham said that around the year 2016, Esports teams were beginning to pop up at various universities, with smaller colleges and STEM schools generally being the ones most interested in starting Esports teams.

“They started getting this idea of smaller schools can do something that bigger schools aren’t able to do,” Cunningham said.

He explained that bigger schools with high-level division athletics probably aren’t going to offer Esports. For smaller universities, Esports are a way they can offer students a team experience without the expenses entailed with more traditional team sports.

“The maintenance is so low,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham said that the Esports team at PFW is self-sufficient. Once the basic computer hardware and peripherals like computer mice, headphones, keyboards and software have been purchased, there largely is no maintenance to be done.

Esports – A Team Experience

Cunningham said that when he came to PFW as the Esports coach, one of his first tasks was to write a policy handbook for the team.

That manual is largely based off of the manuals in use by the traditional sports teams at PFW.

“I’m going to run this like an athletics team,” Cunningham said.

Esports team members have the same grade requirements as the other sports teams at PFW. If student grades begin falling, they are restricted from participating in tournaments and games.

The Esports team mentality and camaraderie are reinforced in a variety of ways beyond grade requirements, including personal hygiene standards and practice sessions called “scrimmages” held once or twice a week. Scrimmages are simulated tournaments where Cunningham and his team play against other college teams in fake-tournament style competition, with each team trying out new tactics that they might use in the future.

Players on the team have the opportunity to travel to tournaments and stay the weekend. Such opportunities give the players the chance to both build team spirit with their fellow Dons and experience what it’s like to travel as a team to a competition.

Esports – Organized and Regimented

Cunningham explained that each player on the team has one game in which they specialize, such as Rocket League or Super Smash Bros. That speciality is the game at which the player is the most proficient and comfortable at playing. When that team member is playing their special game, they are competing in leagues and levels of comparably ranked players across the country.

If a player wants to play a different game in addition to their primary specialty, Cunningham will sometimes allow that player to be part of a lower-ranked team. That way, the player can maintain their skills in their primary game but also have the chance to play something else.

Cunningham said that each game, called a “title,” has its own days when competitions are held. For example, the Rocket League team will play on one particular day, while the Super Smash Bros team may play on a different day.

When it comes to what titles the PFW Esports team plays, there are several criteria that must be met.

“I’m interested in what the students are interested in,” he said.

If students are interested in playing a particular title, Cunningham will investigate and see if that title is worth the time and effort needed for a dedicated team for that game.

But the biggest factor deciding what titles are played by PFW’s Esports teams is whether the game is currently offered in tournament competitions. If there are no tournaments being held for that game, then there’s no point in adding a team for that game.

Esports Coaching Provides Big Picture

Cunningham laughed when he was asked what he does as an Esports coach.

“That’s my favorite question,” he said with a chuckle.

Cunningham explained that his role is to both coordinate the entire Esports program as well as provide coaching for the players. That means he is tasked with keeping the equipment ready to go, purchasing new computers and peripherals as needed, and scheduling games and practice sessions.

For the coaching side of his job, Cunningham said he’s really providing both a macro and a micro level of instruction to his players.

Cunningham said that he gives his players advice and tips on the bigger picture of the game they are playing. That advice helps the players to adjust their strategy to balance the opposing team’s tactics.

“I always just tell them [the players] to treat it like a math equation,” Cunningham said. “What happens on one side of the equation needs to happen on the other.”

 Cunningham said that he also focuses on the mental game for his players, helping them to compartmentalize their emotions and engage with the game and their teammates in a healthy, constructive manner. That approach of channeling emotions and learning from one’s mistakes helps the player to become both a better player as well as a better person.

Esports Benefits the PFW Community

For Cunningham, the Esports team provides several benefits to PFW.

For some students, the chance to play Esports at the collegiate level while working toward a degree is a dream opportunity. With a beautiful arena on the second floor of Walsh containing 21 Alienware gaming computers, that dream can easily be made a reality.

Yet another advantage to having an Esports arena is that any student on PFW’s campus may use the gaming computers for free.

According to the Esports webpage on the PFW website, the Esports arena is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and is available for faculty, students, and staff.

But beyond the recruitment and gaming opportunities offered by the Esports arena, Cunningham said that the Esports team gives students an outlet to be part of a team atmosphere – an experience they may never have had.

“They get that team experience,” he reflected.

And that team experience, of bonding with one’s comrades and working towards a goal, has paid dividends for the players and the university.

Cunningham said that the Esports team has great retention, with students staying on the team and most students remaining at PFW for their education instead of transferring to other schools.

“My students are awesome,” Cunningham said with a smile. “We’ve had so little academic issues.”

In summarizing what he hopes to accomplish with Esports, Cunningham was candid about his long-term goals.

“We’re all here to help them get through college, have a good experience,” he said. “It’s seeing those life skills and professional skills that you helped them develop at such a pivotal age.”

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PFW Esports Players Learning Teamwork and Life Skills

By Andrew Danielson

The sounds of intense competition permeate the room. PFW athletes communicate in short, terse comments as they strive to overcome the opposing team.

But these athletes are not your typical sports team playing a traditional college sport. These are part of PFW’s esports team, a community of 67 student athletes who compete with universities and colleges across the world in a variety of competitive computer games.

For these student athletes, the Esports team is more than just an outlet for competition. It’s a chance to build community and learn life skills that will support them throughout college and into the future.

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Dances of the World At Purdue Fort Wayne

By Rachel Steinbacher

International Education Week took place during the week of Nov. 17, bringing a campus-wide celebration of cultures throughout the world.

The highlight of the week was the Global Student Celebration, an evening dedicated to unity and cultural expression. Students showcased their backgrounds through singing, dancing, and cuisine from around the world – including an interesting remix of Travis Scott’s hit song “FE!N.”

What began as a quiet room, quickly transformed into one of the most energetic student celebrations on campus this semester. 

Shelby Mansfield, assistant director for International Student Services, explained the performances change every year and the students take time to perfect them.

“We have had anything from fashion shows to cooking demonstrations,” she said. “This year, students were leaning towards singing, dances, and bands.”

 Mansfield said the students prepare for their performances very thoroughly and even have a rehearsal the night before. There are bands practicing, friends talking, and a full run through of the whole night.

Lucia Coeslier, a student from France, said that they were putting in an insane amount of effort to perfect the final performance.

“I am most nervous/excited for my performance,” she said. “It is a classic French song.”

Watching the performances is a great way to end the night after eating international food. Mansfield said eating before the performances allows attendees to come together and enjoy a meal. Some of the food served included bahn mi, egosi soup, and baklava as well as drinks like horchata. Most of the food was made locally in Fort Wayne but the school even reached out to a company in Michigan to help celebrate.

Each dance, song, and food represented something uniquely meaningful from the performers’ culture. Colombian student Catalina Vigoya Ruiz explained how the song she chose has been sung in her family for decades.

While she was performing, there were students from Colombia in the crowd dancing along. Another thing you see a lot at this celebration: students coming together.

Dancing is symbolistic for many countries around the world and a way of communication. India, which has the leading number of international students at PFW, has a popular dance called Bharatanatyam which is known for its expressive gestures, storytelling and intricate footwork.

“When I’m dancing, I feel back home again for a moment,” said student performer Lisha Choudhary, from India. “The performance is a mix of traditional Indian dance and American pop culture.”

As the celebration wrapped up, performers were greeted with applause, hugs, and questions from students who wanted to learn more about the dances and songs they saw.

Some stayed long after the final performance ended, taking photos with their friends and continuing conversations about culture, identity, and what it means to be part of a diverse campus.

For those who attended, the Global Student Celebration marked more than just the end of a themed week. It was a reminder of the power the community holds and the diversity international students bring to Purdue Fort Wayne.

And for those few hours on Friday night, campus felt a little smaller and the world felt a little closer.

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Building Global Connections at Purdue Fort Wayne

By Cincade Drudge

As campuses across the country recognized International Education Week (IEW), Purdue Fort Wayne used the Nov. 17-21 celebration not just to highlight global cultures for a few days, but to showcase a growing community of international and multicultural students who enrich campus life year-round.

PFW has been participating in the week-long event for over a decade. According to Shelby Mansfield, assistant director for International Student Services, IEW has been part of U.S. higher education since 2001.

Mansfield explained that International Education Week began as a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Education.

“So it was a collaborative effort to really highlight the value of international education and also exchange opportunities for U.S. students going abroad and the value of having exchange students come to the U.S.,” she said.

For PFW, the centerpiece of the week is the Global Student Celebration, a Friday-night event featuring cultural food, performances, and the annual Parade of Nations.

“The International Ballroom is typically full, sometimes standing room only at the sides,” Mansfield said. “It’s an awesome opportunity to exchange culture through food and performance.”

One of her favorite moments each year is the parade. “Students come on stage, and they say something [typically a greeting] in their native language,” she said. “It gives me goosebumps because it might sound like a really simple idea, but it’s just awesome when you’re in a room when that happens.”

This year’s events also included international bingo and trivia events hosted by the Office of International Education. Mansfield spoke on how the events are connected to international education.

Students Enjoying International Bingo
Indian Student Association Performance at the Global Student Celebration

“Not necessarily each prize, but each round of bingo will have something international attached to it,” Mansfield stated. Trivia night, she added, is a campus favorite: “It’s super fun because we have a couple of student workers that help create this trivia … We all try to see how well we did at the international-themed trivia.”

The purpose of all these events is to shed light on and provide a sense of community for the international students. PFW currently enrolls 269 international students, with representation from more than 50 countries. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Ghana are among the most represented.

Mansfield emphasized that affordability and the Purdue name continue to attract international students to come to PFW from their home countries.

 “The Purdue degree, the reputation behind what that means when they’re getting a job, and searching for a job after graduation, but also affordability,” she explained.

International students arrive through a mix of recruitment strategies. PFW’s admissions staff physically visits countries to recruit students. They also host virtual fairs that high school students or current college students can attend.

But Mansfield stressed that the support for these students goes far beyond recruitment. Her office assists with everything from immigration advising and how to avoid scams to simply helping students adjust to their new environment.

For many students, the Global Student Celebration is a rare opportunity to publicly represent where they come from.

International Foods at the Global Student Celebration
Bangladesh’s Appearance at The Parade of Nations

Nishad Parulekar, an engineering student from India, said he chose PFW for its close-knit campus feel and supportive faculty. But adjusting to life in the United States came with challenges.

“Being away from family was the hardest part,” he said. “But events like this help you interact with people.”

Nishad performed at this year’s celebration, sharing a piece of his culture with the campus community. He said International Education Week personally represents a time to “meet people, share traditions, and understand what other students have experienced.”

His dream is to work in robotics, hopefully in Germany, a place he believes offers strong opportunities for engineers. But for now, PFW has provided a sense of belonging for him.

Not all students who participated in the celebration are international; some are domestic students with multicultural backgrounds who use the event to express identities that often go unnoticed.

Milayi, who grew up in Fort Wayne but whose family is from Myanmar, performed a dance she choreographed for the Water Festival, her ethnic group’s New Year celebration. Many people assume she is Burmese, she said, but she is actually part of a minority ethnic group within Myanmar.

“Not many people know who we are,” Milayi said. “So it’s meaningful to represent my culture here.”

She added that IEW gives students a chance to learn how many cultures exist on campus, cultures that might not be visible in everyday classroom interactions.

Tips from the Office of International Education

While IEW is designed with internationally connected students in mind, domestic students are also engaging with global cultures on campus.

Siddharth Vemparala, a domestic student who attended the international-themed bingo night because he heard about it from friends, said events like these broaden student perspectives.

“I’ve learned that people grow up with completely different experiences,” he said. “When you meet students from other countries, you gain a lot of perspective. It changes how you see the world.”

He recalled friendships with former dorm neighbors who shared meals from their home countries with him. “It’s really fun to learn from each other and try their local dishes,” he said. “PFW does a good job mixing students in classes and housing, so you interact naturally.”

While International Education Week is a highlight, assistant director Mansfield emphasized that its true purpose extends beyond the celebration itself.

“Every institution has its own spin on it,” she said. “So the main goals of it would be to share, I would say, share culture and traditions, and to help promote that sense of belonging on your own campus.”

As PFW’s international community continues to grow, IEW offers a window into the friendships, challenges, and cultural exchanges that shape campus life, not just in a single week, but year-round.

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Climate Change Is Transforming Midwestern Winters     

As climate change continues to shape weather patterns across the globe, some of its most visible effects are emerging not in blistering summer heat waves or devastating hurricane seasons, as one might expect from the effects of global warming, but in the quiet months of winter. Across the Midwest and northern states, including Indiana, winters are shifting in ways that are unexpected and contrary to popular understandings.  

While climate change is widely associated with warming temperatures, its influence on winter weather is far more complex. It actually intensifies weather extremes, scrambling weather patterns, and fueling heavier storms. Atmospheric patterns become more volatile, producing sudden temperature swings. Snowfall decreases overall, yet the snowstorms that do occur can be stronger than before.  

Much of the confusion stems from a common misconception: the belief that if cold days or snowstorms still occur, climate change must not be real. This conflation of weather and climate, short-term conditions versus long-term trends, remains one of the biggest barriers to public understanding. Even as the planet warms, individual winters can and will still deliver bursts of frigid weather. In fact, some of the most intense winter storms are now fueled by a warmer, wetter atmosphere. 

These changes are increasingly clear across Indiana, where winter is now a season defined by unpredictability. Indiana’s Thanksgiving weekend storm this year is a clear example of how this new weather pattern works. Even though average winters are warming, the storm delivered heavy snow, sudden temperature drops, and pockets of freezing rain. 

But behind these day-to-day variations lies a broader pattern: midwestern winters are warming, destabilizing, and becoming less reliable. 

Across Indiana, winter temperatures have risen steadily over the past several decades. Extremely cold days are less common, and winter nights are warmer than they were for previous generations. On the surface, this might sound appealing to those who hate cold weather, but the consequences ripple out in ways that touch ecosystems, infrastructure, and public safety. 

Warmer air means precipitation increasingly falls as rain rather than snow. Winter rainstorms, once rare, now commonly bring flash flooding and icy roads. 

Another growing challenge is the sudden back-and-forth swings between freezing and thawing. Instead of long stretches of consistent cold, Indiana now sees rapid temperature shifts, sometimes within a single day. These cycles damage roads and bridges, destabilize ice on rivers and lakes, stress plants, and create dangerous conditions for anyone spending time outdoors. 

These new winter patterns are reshaping not only the human world, but the natural world just as dramatically. 

Animals that rely on predictable cold seasons are struggling. Species that hibernate, such as bears, groundhogs, and bats, can emerge too early during warm spells, burning through precious energy reserves long before spring food is available. Small mammals like rabbits and mice lose their protective blanket of snow, leaving them exposed to predators and harsh cold snaps. 

Plants and vegetation are equally vulnerable. Early thaws can trigger out-of-season growth, only for sudden freezes to destroy these new shoots. Herbivores such as deer and moose then face food shortages, while heavy winter rains can wash away stored plant matter or disrupt food caches.  

Amphibians that wait out the winter in mud or under ice are especially vulnerable: repeated freeze–thaw cycles caused by erratic winter temperatures can stress or even kill them. 

Migratory species, mainly birds, are feeling the effects too. Unpredictable seasonal cues cause early or delayed migrations, leading to mismatches between arrival times and food availability. 

The weather changes, and ecological shifts are only part of the story. Warmer, wetter winters create substantial challenges for communities across Indiana. 

Rain replacing snow increases flood risk by producing immediate runoff instead of slow snowmelt. Cities are already seeing more burden on storm drains, bridges, and roads. Agriculture suffers when soils repeatedly freeze and thaw, damaging crops and disrupting planting cycles. Infrastructure takes a hard hit as well: potholes, frost heaving, and water damage drive up maintenance costs. 

Winter-based recreation is also changing. Winter sports like skiing, ice skating, and snowmobiling depend on consistent cold that the Midwest and northern states increasingly lack. While Indiana is not as dependent on winter tourism as northern states, snow-based recreation remains a nostalgic and formative part of childhood. Losing reliable snow means losing opportunities for outdoor play that many Hoosiers grew up with. 

The winter as we know it, in all its harshness and joy, is slipping away. If we continue on our present path, many of the defining features of Midwestern winters may disappear entirely. Preserving the season we know will require recognizing the changes already underway and taking meaningful action before they accelerate further. 

Cincade Drudge is a student journalist at Purdue University Fort Wayne and a Waterfield Environmental Intern at the Environmental Resources Center on campus. 

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Climate Change Preparedness Faces Political and Practical Challenges

By Cincade Drudge

As extreme weather events grow more and more frequent and devastating, the question shifts from how to prevent climate disasters to how to prepare for when they strike.  

Around the world, weather-related disasters have already affected more than 2.5 billion people, caused 2 million deaths, and resulted in over $4 trillion in economic losses the last fifty years.  

Floods, droughts, and heat waves are intensifying, and their effects are rarely consistent. A region may face drought one year and flash flooding the next. These unpredictable swings make preparedness one of the most complex challenges in the fight against climate change. 
Preparation for climate change may be complex, but it is not an optional venture; it is vital. Because climate change cannot be fully prevented, adaptation and resilience efforts are now a core part of protecting at-risk communities. Preparedness now means developing plans, strengthening infrastructure, and improving response systems before disaster hits. 

These actions can take many forms: updating stormwater systems, building cooling centers, restoring wetlands, expanding urban tree cover, or ensuring emergency alerts reach residents in multiple languages. The question then becomes, where will the money to fund all this come from?  

The cost of funding preparedness is a frequent complaint of opponents. However, it has been found that every dollar spent on climate preparedness yields a $13 return in avoided damages and cleanup costs. In other words, investing in resilience pays off even if a disaster never occurs. 

Federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have all developed adaptation plans that integrate climate data into their operations and emergency planning. 

Funding programs such as FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance and the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants help turn these plans into reality, supporting states and cities with the resources to build resilience.  

Federal legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act further bolsters clean energy and climate resilience investments, helping to fund clean energy projects and develop a federal climate planning strategy.  

But these positive efforts have not been without political friction. The current administration has signaled its intent to scale back environmental regulations and limit the authority of federal agencies, threatening to undo years of progress.

Some of the agencies that lead on preparedness have even faced existential threats through budget cuts, workforce reductions, and policy rollbacks. In addition, the administration has imposed new limitations on scientific bodies such as NOAA, restricting data collection and suppressing climate-related research. These moves have extended even to the political policing of language; agencies were reportedly discouraged or outright banned from using terms like ‘climate change’ in official documents.

That tension is especially visible at the state level, where climate preparedness can depend heavily on politics. In Indiana, for example, climate planning has faced major obstacles.  

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) recently created a Priority Climate Action Plan under an EPA grant, identifying vulnerabilities like flooding, extreme heat, and agricultural disruption. 

However, that work came to an abrupt halt. Governor Mike Braun ordered the agency to cease developing federal climate plans without his or the legislature’s approval—effectively freezing the project. IDEM returned the remaining federal funds, leaving no clear path forward. 

Regional organizations, like the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC), have tried to fill the gap with localized climate documents and community engagement. Yet, without state-level backing, these efforts often lack the resources and authority to create widespread change. 

This leaves much of the responsibility to local governments, who often face the steepest challenges and the greatest need, with fewer resources.  

Leaders have tried to step up here locally in Fort Wayne; under the Sustaining Fort Wayne Initiative, the city developed its Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP), a blueprint for both emissions reduction and resilience.  

The plan outlines practical steps such as improving stormwater management, expanding urban forestry to combat extreme heat, and protecting waterways from contamination during severe storms. 

Inclusion is a core focus of Fort Wayne’s strategy. Emergency communications are being adapted to reach non-English-speaking residents, and the city uses the Hoosier Resilience Index to measure progress and identify vulnerable populations.  

These actions demonstrated that meaningful preparedness can happen from the ground up, even when higher levels of government falter. 

However, while these efforts marked meaningful groundwork, movement appears to have slowed in recent years. Since the second Trump administration began, there have been few visible updates or expansions to the city’s climate plans, raising concerns that momentum has stalled at a time when local leadership is increasingly critical.

Still, the road ahead is anything but simple. Many local governments lack the funding, staffing, and expertise to carry out large-scale adaptation projects. Federal support fluctuates with each election cycle, and state politics can either bolster or block local action. 

The result is a patchwork of preparedness across the country; some regions are building up preparedness and resilience with strong leadership and investment, while others remain dangerously unprepared. 

The stakes could not be higher. Climate preparedness isn’t about distant future threats; it’s about protecting lives, homes, and communities right now. Investing in preparedness saves money, prevents loss, and ensures a safer, more stable future for everyone. 

While Fort Wayne has already made a meaningful attempt at preparedness, we can always push for more support for these efforts and encourage similar preparedness efforts in surrounding communities and on a federal level.  

Cincade Drudge is a student journalist at Purdue University Fort Wayne and a Waterfield Environmental Intern at the Environmental Resources Center on campus. 

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Environmental Disinformation Poses Growing Threat

By Cincade Drudge

Part of the challenge of protecting our planet today is not just the very real effects of the changing climate itself, but the flood of false and misleading information regarding it. 

Environmental disinformation, which is the intentional effort to mislead the public about environmental issues, has become one of the biggest barriers to meaningful action. It often comes from industries or political actors with a financial stake in delaying change. 

Climate misinformation has surged in recent years, with multiple studies showing that misleading posts from unreliable sources often attract two to three times more engagement than accurate information on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. 

We’ve seen this playbook of purposeful falsehoods before. Tobacco companies once funded doubt about the dangers of smoking, delaying public health reforms and costing countless lives. 

Take the myth ​of plastic recycling. For decades, the plastics industry​ ​has promoted recycling as a solution to environmental damage caused by plastic waste​, even though only about 5% of plastic in the U.S. is actually recycled.

The result? People blame themselves for not recycling enough instead of asking why so much single-use plastic is produced in the first place. 

Or consider “clean coal.” Despite the name, coal remains one of the dirtiest energy sources on Earth, responsible for air pollution and millions of dollars in public health costs. Marketing it as “clean” allows companies to appear responsible while avoiding meaningful reform. 

Perhaps most crucially, the fossil fuel industry has taken this same strategy to a global scale, using misinformation to question the reality of climate change and the science behind it. The goal is the same across industries: to confuse, divide, and stall progress. 

Why should you care? Because disinformation doesn’t only distort the debate around climate change, it changes real material outcomes. When the public is unsure what to believe, it’s easier for policymakers to do nothing.  

Every year that passes without decisive climate action adds to the cost, environmentally, economically, and socially. Before long, we will find ourselves in a world of hurt, with a destroyed climate and a population too steeped in disinformation to do anything about it. 

These stories are not isolated; they form a pattern of deception that benefits a few while harming many. And now, with social media, this misinformation spreads faster than ever.  

Influencers, podcasts, and partisan outlets amplify misleading claims, often without fact-checking or accountability. Consider this: eight of the top 10 online shows are spreading climate misinformation.  

So what can be done? Transparency would be a start. When corporations, politicians, and media outlets are required to disclose who funds their messages, the public can make informed decisions about credibility.  

Media literacy is another key step: teaching people how to recognize biased sources and understand how scientific consensus is built. 

This scientific consensus concept leads to another important point: Scientists, too, must meet the public halfway by communicating clearly and openly, without the technical jargon that can alienate audiences.  

The need for scientific clarity doesn’t erase the blame we as individuals face. We must take steps (no matter how small) toward reaching climate accuracy via verifying info before sharing, supporting credible journalism, and challenging falsehoods when we see them. 

The battle for truth is part of the fight for a livable planet. If we allow disinformation to shape public understanding, the consequences will be very real.  

Take voting, for example; U.S. voters’ opinion on climate change has been found to have swayed enough voters in 2020 to account for a 3% swing in the popular vote. This shift, if reversed by disinformation, could have switched the winner of the presidential election, dramatically shifting U.S. Climate policy.  

This shows that holding powerful actors accountable and demanding honesty in environmental communication isn’t optional; it’s vital to securing a bright future for both us and hopefully those long after us. We can’t allow misinformation to affect the outcomes of our elections, our policies, or our future.  

If you encounter misleading environmental claims or wish to learn how to identify them, consider using resources such as Science Feedback, Media Bias/Fact Check, and Hot Air, each of which provides accessible tools for fact-checking and misinformation reporting. 

We all have a role in protecting not just our environment, but the truth that helps us defend it. 

Cincade Drudge is a student journalist at Purdue University Fort Wayne and a Waterfield Environmental Intern at the Environmental Resources Center on campus. 

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PFW School of Music Expands Opportunities with Surack-Sweetwater Music Industry Building

By Andrew Danielson

2026. That is the year the new Surack-Sweetwater Music Industry Building is set to open.

At a cost of $25 million, the new building will house state-of-the art equipment and world-class facilities, offering students attending the PFW School of Music the chance to learn and study music making at a whole new level.

The new construction will be a staggering 26,000 square feet interconnected to the current Music Center via a skybridge. Packed into that space will be all kinds of technology designed for today’s commercial music needs.

Dr. John Buteyn, clinical assistant professor of music and director of popular music at PFW, said that the new building will contain three state-of-the art recording studios, analog and digital control consoles, and systems for surround and immersive audio.

The recording studios alone are high-end facilities, designed by the same engineers who planned the recording studios at Sweetwater, Russ Berger Design Group.

Dr. Jeremy Grall, director of the PFW School of Music, explained that the new facility will also include numerous editing suites, a large rehearsal room for PFW’s larger ensembles, an intimate “live” rehearsal room (which can hold potential live music concerts), a classroom, a conference room, and multiple offices for faculty.

Professor Buteyn explained that with the new building, space, and technology, PFW will have the ability to record in-house their various musical ensembles, stretching in size from their rock bands all the way to their major wind ensembles and orchestra.

The new structure is a testament to the exponential growth experienced by the School of Music.

PFW School of Music and Degree Programs are Born

John O’Connell, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, explained that in the mid-2000s, PFW (then IPFW) offered a music technology concentration for students majoring in music and an outside field.

However, the program was quite small, with only a single room for students to practice their recording abilities and learn about music technology.

In 2018, PFW became its own entity, with their department of music elevated to become a School of Music. With that change came the opportunity to add new degree programs.

O’Connell said that they were looking for new ways to grow, and the fields of music technology and commercial music offered an exciting opportunity for expansion.  

PFW added three new degrees in 2018-2019: music industry, popular music, and music technology.

But degree programs are only as effective as the opportunities they provide.

Thanks to the generosity of Chuck Surack, philanthropist and founder of Sweetwater Sound, PFW formed an agreement with Sweetwater that enabled the School of Music to begin offering new courses for its music majors at a facility on the grounds of Sweetwater called the “Purdue Fort Wayne Sweetwater Music Center” (SMC for short).

That facility contains industry-standard recording spaces and equipment, giving students the chance to learn on current gear used in the commercial music world.

But that was back in 2018.

Professor Buteyn explained that the SMC, though incredible with what it has to offer, has become too small for the growing student body in the school.

In 2018, there were 24 students in PFW’s music industry and commercial music degree programs. By 2019, that number had risen to 80 students, with the program nearly doubling in size to 147 students by 2022.

This growth is highly unusual for academic programs.

“It’s unheard of,” dean O’Connell said. “It’s really spectacular to have that much growth in that short of a time.”

The School of Music now has approximately 300 students, with about 50% of those students coming to PFW specifically for the new opportunities the music industry, music technology, and popular music degree programs offer.

With the growth the School of Music experienced came a welcome but still serious issue – how to host so many students with limited facilities. Class scheduling, and studio/editing time had become a challenge.

“Quite simply, we outgrew the facilities,” director Grall said.

The SMC is less than a third the size of what the new music industry building will be.

A Big Impact on Students and Their Education

One of the first impacts the school of music will experience with the new facility is that students among the various degree programs will get the chance to work together more closely.

Jake Kaufman, a PFW senior majoring in popular music with a focus in performance/song-writing, said that having the music industry building so close to the Music Center will open up collaboration opportunities.

Currently, students must leave the PFW campus and drive to the SMC in order to take their recording classes. They then have to drive back to PFW to take their other music courses.

But with the new building, that commuting will largely be a thing of the past.

“The best part about this is that the building [the new music industry building] is right there,” Kaufman pointed out.

Kaufman believes that the close proximity between the two music buildings will also help reduce perceived barriers between the commercial/pop music programs and the more traditional/conservatory-style programs.

“There seems to be some sort of separation between classical musicians and the commercial musicians,” Kaufman said. “That line need not exist. We are all musicians and we all should be working together.”

Professor Ryan Tilby, clinical assistant professor of recording at PFW, echoes Kaufman’s thoughts.

“Being all in one building is just going to help us realize that we all need to learn something from each other,” Tilby said. “I just want there to be one big community of people helping each other out all the time.”

One example of future collaboration will be the opportunities for commercial music students to practice recording both electrified as well as acoustical instruments.

Director Grall, who plays a variety of instruments, explained that recording acoustical instruments is actually more of a challenge than people might suppose.

With the new music industry building immediately adjacent to the music center, students will now have the opportunity to record a variety of acoustic and electric instruments, all while using world-class recording gear and techniques.

In the midst of all the excitement of the new facility, it’s easy to forget what makes a building spring to life.

“A building is just a place – it’s a thing,” Grall said. “The ‘thing’ that makes this work is the people.”

Grall went on to say that, thanks to the support of dean O’Connell, the professors, and the students, the building will have life and energy.

Kaufman shared that enthusiasm.

“We are definitely excited for it,” Kaufman said.

There are already plans in the works to add new course offerings for future music students at PFW. For now, the Surack-Sweetwater Music Industry Building is a blank canvas of opportunity awaiting the paint brush of creativity.

“The School of Music is going to keep growing,” director Grall said. “But we don’t even know how it’s going to grow yet, because there’s so many options.”

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